SEA BRIGHT — When Hurricane Sandy devastated the tiny borough of Sea Bright in October 2012, the town’s mayor said the only way her community would be spared destruction from future storms would be to reinforce the stone and concrete seawall built decades ago.

After nearly two years of taking her message to state and federal officials, Mayor Dina Long’s requests for financial help have been answered.

With the two-year anniversary of Sandy’s destruction approaching, Gov. Chris Christie today announced major upgrades to that seawall — a symbol of the weak links in New Jersey's storm preparedness — that state and local officials hope will give residents peace of mind while delivering on the governor's pledge to build a continuous barrier along the entire Atlantic Coast of the Jersey Shore.

The Monmouth County borough — one of the most heavily hit by Sandy — will receive $8.5 million to repair and expand the seawall to protect against future storms.

Still, Christie noted today’s announcement was only one part of New Jersey’s ongoing effort to rebuild. With the second summer since Sandy struck about to fade, he stressed the state has more steps to take to prepare for similar events and protect its $40 billion tourism industry — even if a storm with Sandy’s power never again ravages the shoreline.

“We know that rebuilding the state is the most important challenge we have, and it’s a challenge that continues,” Christie said at a news conference in the parking lot Sea Bright’s municipal hall, which had been flooded in Sandy’s wake.

“What we’re doing here is something that’s planning for incidents like Sandy, although I suspect we’ll never see anything quite like that again,” the governor added. “(We want) to make sure what this downtown looked like, when I came here for the first time, that it never looks like that again.”

Christie touted that the Shore is in the midst of a successful summer 22 months after Sandy. He will be in Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant to remind residents and tourists that there are still a few weeks left to enjoy it.

“In many ways, I don’t think our beaches have ever looked any better,” Christie said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have already finished a federally financed $345 million restoration project from Sandy Hook to Manasquan. The Sea Bright plan is part of a series of 11 new coastal restoration projects that are underway across the state — carrying a total price tag of about $1 billion.

The new projects will not only focus on the Atlantic coast, but also the Delaware Bay coast, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, and the tidal swatches of the South River and the Passaic River. Five of those projects are in the final design stages, with bidding expected in the fall and work to begin in the late fall or early winter.

“The key message you’ll hear about today is our commitment to resiliency,” Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said at today’s news conference.

Christie praised Sea Bright as an example of that resiliency.

“Every time I’m here,” the governor said, “I’m more impressed with their spirit.”

Sandy caused massive waves from the Atlantic Ocean to surge over and around the seawall, flooding the Monmouth County borough and damaging the wall itself. Part of the problem was Sea Bright’s downtown was not protected by a wall.

“A freight train of water barreled through our town,” Long recalled today.

Thus, this project will not only fix the damaged sections of the wall but expand it to fortify the downtown area. It will be financed by the DEP’s Shore Protection Fund and is scheduled to go out to bid later this year. Christie said construction is slated to begin next spring or early next summer.

But Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of environmental group the Sierra Club, said seawalls give “false hope” in protection from storms, and the state is wasting millions of dollars on projects like this.

“History has shown us that seawalls like the one in Sea Bright fail,” Tittel said. “Every time there’s a major storm, the water goes over the wall or the wall itself gets knocked down, causing more flooding. We are better off with a holistic approach that moves people out of harm’s way, mitigates for sea level rise, and restores natural systems like dunes.”

Christie said there’s no way to no for sure if the new wall will stop waves from breaching the top.

“You can never predict what something would have been able to handle,” the governor said. “You know, man-made structures are still man-made structures and nature is often a very, very difficult opponent in that regard. But, based upon the best information we have we hope it would have been able to.”